Lake Arrowhead | Twin Peaks | Weekend Getaway

Lake Arrowhead  |  Twin Peaks  |  Weekend Getaway

This past weekend we took a small vacation to Lake Arrowhead, Twin Peaks to be exact.  We booked our cabin through Airbnb.  Using our Super Host discount, and booking the cabin months in advance, we were able to get the cabin at a super low price.  However, I think the average going rate for our particular cabin is about $125 a night.  Our cabin was big enough to accommodate 8 people.  It was 2 stories, 3 bedrooms, 3 bathrooms, and 2 patios.  

TIP - To us, Twin Peaks was probably the best location we ever had for Lake Arrowhead and the surrounding areas.  Our other trips out here were not as fun because of the drive and the location of the cabin.  Our location this time was literally minutes from Lake Arrowhead Village, and walking distance from the Blue Jay downtown area which has good restaurants, gas, market, and coffee.

This trip, we drove from Las Vegas, NV and it took us about 3.5 hours.  Another team came from Los Angeles, CA and it took them about 1.5 hours.  There was more that enough space to park 2 (Or maybe 3) cars in front of the cabin which was another huge plus.  The parking spot in our cabin last year barely fit 2 cars, so we ended up parking one of our cars on the side.

Before we arrived at our cabin, the host messaged us with the code to get inside the cabin.  Once inside, our cabin was just beautiful.  The kitchen, and living room area was the 1st floor with a barbecue grill on the patio.  Once you go downstairs, there are 3 bedrooms and another patio.  The living room has a fireplace, and a TV right above it.  There is a large table that can seat maybe 10, and also a small game area with a air hockey table, board games, puzzles, etc.  All newer appliances including washer, dryer, microwave, etc.  Of course the best part of these trips is BBQ, so we started cooking the Galbi that we brought right away.

TIP - Ok, I will tell you this from personal experience.  As clean as these cabins our, especially Airbnb, the BBQ Grills are not really taken care of as your own.  Multiple times while barbecuing on these propane grills, I had the grills start to flame up.  This never happens on a home grill which is cleaned regularly.  Make sure when using these propane grills, they are clean inside, and do not close the lid for too long.

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One thing that really caught my attention this time was the fact that pretty much anything that we forgot to bring was there for us to use.  The host actually told us that we are welcome to use "Everything" in the cabin.  It was almost like a "Pay it forward" type of deal.  Previous guests of this cabin actually left things for the next guest to use, and so on.  Whether its Ziplock bags, utensils, or even food and alcohol, people actually left goods for the next guest to use.  In this day and age, this was such an awesome experience.  

About 10 minutes or so from here, you can visit the famous Lake Arrowhead Village.  Lake Arrowhead Village is the place for Shopping, Dining, and Entertainment.  Aside from local shops with souvenirs and gifts, there are brand name shops and specialty shops in this shopping center.  Most weekends there are small concerts and events.  You can even enjoy a ferry ride, go karts, or some miniature golf while you are here too.  Go to the top area, and you will find a Stater Bros market here.  For those of you that aren't familiar with Stater Bros, Stater Bros is the go to place for Meat.  If I'm correct, you actually have to be certified to work in the meat department of Stater Bros.

As weird as the weather has been lately around the world, the first day we had really nice weather as you can see in the picture above.  The second night we actually got some snow!  Of course we knew that this might be a possibility, so we came prepared.  We brought our indoor tabletop burner, and had a indoor feast while it was cold and raining outside.  

Although the cabin was well insulated and cozy inside, we had to turn on our electric blankets to keep warm at night.  The cabin had a Nest installed, so it was a really easy to see the temperature inside, outside, and set our desired temperature.  We chose not to use the fireplace this time.  Our previous cabins had newer electric/gas fireplaces with remote controls which made it really easy to turn on and off.  This cabin has a standard fireplace, where you have to open the top, and light your own firewood.  I think the firewood is the only thing that you weren't allowed to use.  

It didn't snow too much as you can see above.  I was happy to see snow, but also relieved that it didn't snow too much.  I have been in this area during snow storms, and it is a nightmare driving, even with snow chains installed.  So all in all this weekend getaway was another huge success.  Of course I took my laptop with me, and the internet speed up here was fast enough to play Forza Horizon 4 and Counter Strike GO without any lag, while streaming songs on Youtube.  Although you are in the woods, there is a Starbucks about 5 minutes from here.  Another precaution, T-Mobile does not work in this area at all.  We al have T-Mobile which was inconvenient, however I had a company phone with me from Verizon which worked fine.

This area, and a lot of vacation areas have changed quite a bit over time.  Before, most of these cabins were owned by retired people and people who used them on the weekends.  Now a lot of the cabins are owned by people who invested in them to Airbnb them.  The last 2 cabins we that we got in this area through Airbnb, the owners don't even live in this area or come here.  They all use a cleaning company who cleans and prepares the cabin for the next guest.  I'm sure the cleaning companies charge quite a bit too, however I think it's pretty smart how they run things now.  With Airbnb changing the way people vacation, Turo shaking up the car rental industry, Amazon and Walmart taking out small businesses, even all the self check out stations that are popping up at markets and restaurants, times are changing quite a bit!